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TMI Blog2014 (7) TMI 1379X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... v. State of Bihar [ 1971 (9) TMI 186 - SUPREME COURT ] and Prakash Singh Badal and Anr. v. State of Punjab and Ors. [ 2006 (12) TMI 548 - SUPREME COURT ] it has been consistently held that it can be no part of the duty of a public servant or acting in the discharge of his official duties to commit any of the offences covered by Section 406, 409, 420 etc. and the official status of the public servant can, at best, only provide an opportunity for commission of the offences. Therefore, no sanction for prosecution of the public servant for such offences would be required Under Section 197 of the Code. Notwithstanding the above, the High Court had granted liberty to the Appellant to raise the issue of sanction, if so required, depending on the e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2.2002, 19/2003 dated 07.01.2003 and 41/2003 dated 18.01.2003 Under Sections 409/420/467/468/471/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter for short 'Indian Penal Code') were registered at Police Station Gardani Bagh (Shastri Nagar), Patna. On completion of investigation in all the cases, chargesheets were submitted before the competent court on the basis of which the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna took cognizance of the offences alleged against the Appellant. Aggrieved, the Appellant filed revision applications before the learned Sessions Judge, Patna challenging the orders passed by the learned Trial Court, primarily, on the ground that the said orders were without jurisdiction and incompetent in law inasmuch as sanc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court the detailed and specific contentions need not be taken note of and it will suffice to say that while the Appellant contends that grant of sanction Under Section 197 of the Code is a sine qua non for his prosecution for the offences alleged, according to the State of Bihar the Appellant is not a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code and in any case none of the offences alleged can be attributed to acts that arise out of or have any proximity with the discharge of official duties by the Appellant so as to require sanction for his prosecution. 5. Section 197(1) of the Code will be required to be noticed at this stage and is therefore extracted below. 197. Prosecution of Judges and public servants ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he act(s) giving rise to the alleged offence had been committed by the public servant in the actual or purported discharge of his official duties. 7. Insofar as the first requirement is concerned, the position of officers belonging to the Indian Administrative Service serving on deputation in a cooperative society was decided in S.S. Dhanoa v. MCD (1981) 3 SCC 431. Dealing with Clause 12 of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, this Court had held that the word 'corporation' appearing in Clause 12(b) of Section 21 Indian Penal Code meant corporations established by a statute and would have no application to a cooperative society. In the present case, the materials on record, i.e., the incorporation of the Bihar State Housing Coope ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... red only at a subsequent stage i.e. after evidence on the issue, if any, is forthcoming. 9. The above discussion will now require the Court to consider the question as to whether the acts giving rise to the alleged offences had been committed by the accused in the actual or purported discharge of his official duties. In a series of pronouncements commencing with Satwant Singh v. State of Punjab AIR 1960 SC 266; Harihar Prasad v. State of Bihar (1972) 3 SCC 89 and Prakash Singh Badal and Anr. v. State of Punjab and Ors. (2007) 1 SCC 1 it has been consistently held that it can be no part of the duty of a public servant or acting in the discharge of his official duties to commit any of the offences covered by Section 406, 409, 420 etc. and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for sanction. Whether sanction is necessary or not may have to be determined from stage to stage. The necessity may reveal itself in the course of the progress of the case. P.K. Pradhan v. State of Sikkim (para 15) It is well settled that question of sanction Under Section 197 of the Code can be raised any time after the cognizance; may be immediately after cognizance or framing of charge or even at the time of conclusion of trial and after conviction as well. But there may be certain cases where it may not be possible to decide the question effectively without giving opportunity to the defence to establish that what he did was in discharge of official duty. In order to come to the conclusion whether claim of the accused, that the act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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